The Ultimate Reverb (Echo Chamber)

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 28 Jun 2002 5:19 pm

I just saw a show about Capitol Records and their original recording studio in Hollywood and was surprised to learn they used a real concrete echo chamber for reverb!
Apparently it's 25 feet below the studio underground and they send a live feed into a speaker set up in it and then place the mike at the other end of the room and record the natural reverb produced in the room.
They then mix this with the dry signal upstairs and come up with a killer natural reverb!
Now if they can just put THAT in a stomp box..............[This message was edited by Tony Palmer on 28 June 2002 at 06:21 PM.]

Steven Welborn · Post by **Steven Welborn** » 28 Jun 2002 5:23 pm

or just arrive at the gigs a little early with a backhoe and concrete mixer.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 1 Jul 2002 10:58 am

I believe Les Paul pioneered that technique.

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 1 Jul 2002 11:45 am

I recorded once a Capitol Records there in Cali. I got to go down in those chambers and that was way cool; and what a great honor that was to stand in Studio A where Frank S. stood and sang all the best stuff........WOW.
Oh and the reverb sound I got on that recording was the most ultimate sound I've ever heard to date.......I've got a backhoe on rent now.......ah......ha.....;0

Ricky

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 1 Jul 2002 3:56 pm

I've been in those chambers, too. They are so good people actually use equalized phone lines and send to those chambers from all over town. If you solo them, you can sometimes hear a little street rumble in them

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chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 1 Jul 2002 10:06 pm

I recorded once a Capitol Records there in Cali. I got to go down in those chambers and that was way cool; and what a great honor that was to stand in Studio A where Frank S. stood and sang all the best stuff........WOW.

That place is like walking into a shrine!

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 2 Jul 2002 8:52 am

Up until the mid 70s,live chambers were all you had - that and spring reverbs.Some time in the late 60s/early 70s,plate reverbs like the EMT came on the scene and were considered cheese by some and cutting edge by others but there's no way to top a good live chamber.I've worked and recorded in lots of studios with live chambers and they're easy to set up - all you need is a mic & speaker,some wire and an unused elevator shaft,tiled hallway,men's room,or a length of concrete sewer pipe.Speaking of legendary studios,when I first moved to L.A.,a friend of mine worked at Gold Star studio down on the corner of Santa Monica and Vine and I stuck my head in there a couple times.This was the home of Specialty Records where all the classic Little Richard sides as well as the place where all the Eddie Cochran,Richie Valens and Phil Spector "wall of sound" records were cut.It was a very humble little 20'x20' room w/no iso booths and Spector would just cram it full of musicians playing elbow to elbow and cut direct to mono.They tore the place down about 10 years ago and replaced it w/a mini-mall. -MJ-

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 2 Jul 2002 9:42 am

Capitol is one of the few places left with an on-call maintenance staff ready to answer your every electronic need! If you're a 'heavy', they wash your car for your while you're recording (or ordering lunch)! The photos are worth a visit alone. I wonder if they do tours? And, oh yeah, it's a great studio, too!

Bob M.[This message was edited by Bob Metzger on 02 July 2002 at 10:43 AM.]

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 2 Jul 2002 7:54 pm

I once used a 500 foot spool of cable television wire for a slap delay. I put ends on the cable and ran the guitar signal thru it to the board. Worked great, but I didn't want to drag it with me on the road. (My Echo-plex tape broke right before the last song we were recording, a rockabilly tune. The band leader's brother was there. He had a TV repair shop and we had his van to get the gear to the studio. Necessity is the mother of invention.)

Cool about the underground Capitol reverb tank! Bet it sounded fantastic...

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My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 3 Jul 2002 4:24 am

(By the way, I saw this on the Travel Channel "Secrets of Hollywood", as in the "secret" underground chamber).
So, to be facetious, could a "reverb box" be contructed with a long ducted port-like chamber inside fitted with a mike and speaker?
For example, if a plywood box about 3 ft x 4 ft was partitioned into a 6" x 6" tunnel traversing the interior back and forth, I estimate you would have a travel of sound of 148 feet.
If the interior "tunnel" was made of a rigid concrete-like substance, wouldn't that approximate the sound of the origial "echo chamber"?
Perhaps a small Bose speaker at the start of the tunnel and a high quality mike at the end, mix it with the dry signal and ......??!!??

Jim West · Post by **Jim West** » 3 Jul 2002 9:33 am

Chet Atkins used an elevator shaft for delays and reverbs. He would place a speaker at the bottom of the shaft and a microphone on the bottom of the elevator. To change delay times or reverb contours all he would do is raise or lower the elevator. Pretty keen idea!

Duane Eddie recorded in a studio that used an old gasoline storage tank sitting outside the studio. He said it worked fine but you would have to stop recording when a truck went buy or a plane flew over.

It amazes me what kind of sounds these engineers got with the equipment they had to work with, now all we do is change a few parameters in a rack box and voila! Instant Grand Canyon.

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 3 Jul 2002 12:29 pm

You could show up to the gig with your guitar and amp and then a few minutes later, the eighteen wheeler drives up with your reverb chamber!

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 3 Jul 2002 12:47 pm

There is a stair well here in the building where I work that has a most wonderful natural reverb. I have recorded some guitar, banjo & mandolin tracks on my portastudio in there that are killer sounding! I ran 2 mikes on to 2 tracks. One right where I was sitting and the 2nd mike about 30 feet away on the upper landing of the stairs. Blend the two tracks during mix down and instant "BIG" sound.
JE:-)>

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 3 Jul 2002 2:47 pm

Don't Tell Phil Spector!

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 3 Jul 2002 5:20 pm

There is a stair well here in the building where I work that has a most wonderful natural reverb.

I have a friend who was in art school who worked with sound. One of his pieces had a microphone set in a stairwell that was broadcast into the hallways so that the sound of the stairwell was displaced, and when people were walking in a hallway they had the sounds of walking in the stairwell to accompany them. An unexpected consequence was when a teacher and a student, who were having an affair, stepped into the stairwell to have an argument, and that was broadcast all over the building.

gary darr · Post by **gary darr** » 4 Jul 2002 1:35 pm

I once recorded a "home brew"demo in a unoccupied health club, I took my fiddle down stairs to the racket ball rooms and what a big sound I got in there....hard wood floor and reflective walls and ceiling

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